GA prosecutor Fani Willis, leading election fraud case against Trump, wins re-election

Embattled Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis, the Democrat who brought election racketeering charges against President-elect Donald Trump and 18 others, easily won re-election Tuesday to a second term as Fulton County district attorney.

Willis’s victory over Republican challenger Courtney Kramer paves the way for the trial to resume – at some point – against Trump and the remaining defendants who have not pleaded guilty already.

Given the demographics of Fulton County, Willis was widely expected to defeat Kramer, who served as a consultant on Trump’s legal team after the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has suggested that if elected, he would do away with the various legal cases against him. Legal experts have said Trump as president would have far less ability to stop the Georgia case than the federal indictments against him. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith started winding down those cases on Wednesday, USA TODAY reported Wednesday.

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The Fulton County case remains mired in controversy and court challenges, in part due to Willis’s affair with the top prosecutor she tapped for the sprawling racketeering case, Nathan Wade.

Willis, a veteran prosecutor, brought the charges against Trump, some of his former campaign and administration officials and others in August 2023 over their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

More: Justice Department weighs how to drop charges against President-elect Donald Trump: source

So far, four Trump co-defendants have pleaded guilty in agreements with prosecutors. Trump and 14 others, including his former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, have pleaded not guilty.

No trial date has been set. But efforts by Trump and some co-defendants to derail the case by petitioning for Willis’s disqualification or ouster essentially put it on hold for months while judges heard evidence about whether her relationship with Wade fatally compromised her ability to oversee it.

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Trump and several other defendants are seeking to overturn a ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who said in March that Willis can stay on the case despite their allegations of misconduct and financial conflict of interest. He had said he would allow some trial preparations to continue while the case is appealed.

Michael Roman, a co-defendant and former Trump campaign official, filed the first motion in January, citing Willis’ relationship with Wade and their travels to exotic destinations together that he claimed were paid for, in part, by the more than $650,000 that Wade received as lead prosecutor in the case.

After initially not commenting, Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they did nothing wrong – and that their affair began after she hired him for the job in 2021.

In his ruling, McAfee rebuked Willis for a "tremendous lapse in judgment" and said she could only remain on the case if Wade withdrew. He quit the same day. Trump and other defendants later petitioned for appeal, saying McAfee didn’t go far enough and that Willis needed to step down as well.

The Georgia Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments about whether to remove Willis from the case Dec. 5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fani Willis of Trump election fraud case in Georgia wins re-election